If that's the next move, makes sense. Aspinall/Pereira is the next biggest fight without Jones. I don't see Ankalaev as a huge threat where Alex needs to beat him to prove himself anymore. Might as well try and become triple champ. Aspinall has size, but we don't know if he's an excellent wrestler like it's a forgone conclusion. Pereira probably has a better chance against Aspinall than Jones.
And it's interesting because if you see Alex Pereira commenting on JJ, he's always praising JJ, he even said recently that one thing he disagrees in the pfp is that JJ should be #1... And Alex admitted that JJ is the best. And Jon Jones likes the idea of Alex Poatan fighting Tom Aspinall.
Now, there's those scenarios:
1) JJ thinks that it's obvious Tom will easily defeat Poatan, which makes Tom that special draw for everyone and then there is a huuuge meaning for him to fight, attracting the biggest payment ever...
2) JJ knows that Alex Poatan will more than likely defeat Tom Aspinall... And with that, he won't fight Poatan as an agreement between the two. Alex admitted JJ is #1, fans always said JJ vs Alex is a mismatch and thar JJ would walk through Alex easily... So if Alex beats Poatan, Jon Jones can retire with a moral victory even knowing he couldn't beat Poatan at this stage point...
It's interesting too because Jon Jones wanted the Poatan fight badly, saying they are the same age and all... But maybe Jon Jones knows that either of those two are too much for him, but that Alex Poatan is a special case, that as a 37 yo he is with the athleticism and endurance of a 30 yo guy... So he plays Poatan vs Aspinall, expects that Poatan will beat Aspinall and then he can walk away without dealing with a "likely" overwhelming defeat from Aspinall because... Alex best Aspinall and Jon Jones was "willing" to fight Alex, so he's gotta be better than Alex... Though the actual Jon Jones is just not on that level anymore
3) He thinks Alex Pereira will beat Tom Aspinall and he believes he will defeat Alex Pereira, but he wants to have just one more super fight, he isn't up for fighting both, so he has the energy to go one more and that being Alex if he thinks Alex will win, then he's going to beat up Alex Pereira... And prove he's the best.
4) He expects Alex Poatan to make it challenging enough for Tom, who'd go into the latter rounds, let's say, round 3 or 4, where he finishes Alex, but now JJ has footage to prepare for Tom Aspinall...
But one thing is that people say JJ looked slow vs Stipe, that it wasn't that impressive, he was fighting someone older and inactive... But Alex has been fighting active younger tough champions and dominating them, like Jiri Prochazka, Jamahall Hill... Khalil Rountree (who although #8, it didn't account for his actual skills which would be that of a #1 guy... And Khalil was fast, real fast, real powerful and real tough... Almost as if in the years he spent on Thailand made him into a monster no one knew he was and that was kinda Alex's test to know if he can deal with the HWs)... So Alex is as old as JJ, ppl believe JJ would defeat him no problems, but he's been doing amazing things against very good guys younger than him, so his 37 years may as well be a skills of a 26 yo prime JJ.
Btw, who knows....
